As much as the psychosocial nature of mental illness cannot be ignored, it is generally agreed that social ties play a beneficial role in the maintenance of psychological well-being. Small social networks, few close relationships, and low perceived adequacy of social support and quality of life have all been linked to depressive symptoms. Conversely, the challenges of establishing a causal relationship to social ties are generally greater for mental health than they are for other health outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to identify the association between social capital and overall psychological well-being among Canadian citizens aged 12 and older, by conducting a secondary analysis of microdata using the 2009/2010 cross-sectional Canadian Community Health Survey. The present study included a weighted sample of 124,188 individuals aged 12 years or older who participated in the Canadian Community Health Survey from 2009-2010. Ordinal regression was used to examine the association between self-perceived mental health and social capital in the context of community involvement and sense of belonging in the community. Respondents who felt a sense of belonging in their local community reported mental health superior to individuals who did not have a community-based sense of belonging. This association was explained by respondent’s age, sex, marital status and was mediated by voluntary organization membership and immigration status. Results provided evidence of a relationship between elements of social capital and mental health. Positive social relationships and civic engagement are relevant to positive mental health. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2013-11-22 00:31:17.297

Over the recent years, technological changes in the music industry have altered the geography of music production and non-creative music work. Progress in information and communication technology has lead to decreasing revenues from record sales, which in turn has affected traditional income models for musicians, in particular income from record sales. Therefore, contemporary musicians need to spend longer periods on tour, thus being spatially fragmented in a multitude of geographies while performing artistic work practices. In light of such changes, new music geographies have started to gain the attention for performing artistic work, in particular temporary geographies at popular music festivals as well as digital online communities.This dissertation explores these spaces of music work and creativity, and the roles played by such spaces for Swedish musicians’ working lives. By using a triangulation of methods, this dissertation addresses three important features of the contemporary music profession. First, I explore the geographies of networks and network relations, and the role of networks for coping with contemporary working conditions. Second, I pay attention to the spaces of non-creative work, particularly in festival backstage areas. Third, I focus on how, when and where musicians perform creative work, and the relation between traditional studio locations and new opportunities for creative work while being on tour. Based on interviews, observations and netnographies, I argue that contemporary musicians perform much non-creative work in temporary festival backstage areas and in online communities while creative work preferably is located to traditional studio environments. I also argue that while female musicians and new-established musicians at large, due to increasing competition, have started to explore online communities, established musicians benefit from networking in face-to-face gatherings in order to gain job opportunities. Thus, there is a distinction between different groups of musicians based on career stage and gender.

<p>Sociologists often depict demographic categories as socially constructed, non-essential, and fluid. The language of fluid, contingent categories has not, however, translated very well into the practice of describing social change in a population. There are notable exceptions, but the typical approach is still to take fixed demographic categories, such as Black/White, and follow their outcomes over time. The first goal of this dissertation is to bridge the gap between theory and practice by offering a formal framework for measuring categorical fluidity. The second goal is to use changes in categorical meaning to explore the macro features of a social system.</p><p>First, I develop a model of categorical change rooted in interaction patterns, such as marriage or friendship rates. Interaction patterns offer an ideal metric to measure fluid demographic categories: they concretely capture social distinctions without relying solely on pre-defined labels. I consider two categories to be equivalent if the observed behavioral implications of group membership are the same, even if the labels are different. If College graduates now interact in the same manner as High School graduates used to, then College is the new HS. To formalize this idea, I place categories into social locations based on observed rates of interaction. Categories are close if interaction is likely and far if interaction is unlikely. I then ask which categories occupy the same locations over time, or have the same range of interaction partners. </p><p>Second, I apply this model to the question of racial change in America. I interpret two macro level changes, one demographic and one political, through the lens of categorical change. Demographically, there have been large increases in the number of Hispanics identifying as Other racially, as opposed to White or Black. Using Census marriage data, I find that this increase in Other-Hispanics reflects a schism in the meaning of Hispanic. The shifts in social locations point to a growing divide between those that see Hispanic as another race and those that do not. Politically, there have been large changes in the measurement of race, with individuals now allowed to claim multiple races in the census. I ask how these "new" mixed race categories fit into the existing racial order. I find that the Hispanic mixed race categories create distinct categories in a way that the mixing of traditional racial/ethnic categories does not. </p><p>Third, I use the model of categorical change to test theories of power and influence. I argue that the meaning of a category amongst one part of the population may be shaped by the experience, or changing conditions, of another part of the population. This asymmetry serves as the measure of aggregate level influence. Substantively, I apply this approach to racial stratification in the US, where I use joint changes in educational meaning and attainment to characterize systems of racial stratification from 1940-2000. Using Census data on race and education, I find that the US is characterized by a system of hegemony, where changes in attainment amongst the majority drive the meaning of education for other racial groups.</p> / Dissertation

Most recently in academic literature, over the past decade, it has been observed that the cultural approach to brand management represents a new school of thought. This has emerged from relational and community based brand perspectives: which chart the rising role, significance and influence in brand management of connected and savvy consumers. Furthermore, the researcher has identified that economic migrancy; the increase in multi-racial and multicultural relations, evident in childbirth; urbanism and urbanization; Globalization; conspicuous branded consumption; and Web2.0 continue to drive new methods and channels for information exchanges, collaboration and societal understanding. These in turn are shaping and changing the way in which branding, management and consumption are being understood and practiced. Brands have gravitated towards a position of offering individual and societal meaning. In doing so they have become cultural artefacts and language shapers. In tandem the conceptual argument for a brand being understood and used as a ‘human’ has grown in prominence. Collectively, these represent a global cultural phenomenon where the management of brands appears to be a cultural, diffused and self-defined practice. The purpose of this study was to examine this identified phenomenon in greater detail, from a brand management perspective. The aim was to investigate the nature of the relationship between culture and brands – to the benefit of brand managers. The method of qualitative investigation elicited iterated views from an international panel of academics and practitioners -­ in the form of a 16 month Expert Delphi Study. Through the Delphi process, they were encouraged to arrive at a consensus of opinions and understanding. Findings of this doctoral study suggest that culture and brands share strong relationship bonds, brought into existence by human desires. Equally, brands and culture both have the ability to influence each other. Furthermore, the successful management of brands requires a cultural approach, which mediates dynamic and complex networks of brand stakeholder relations. It was concluded that the understandings of brands, culture and management have to take into account: context, space and time – as porous boundaries of transience and transcendence. A new, grounded theoretical framework for brand management was developed - which took its inspiration from Aristotle’s Praedicamenta. In addition, alternative criteria for collecting and analysing biographical data were proposed.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a relatively new concept in the field of psychology, introduced by Salovey and Mayer in 1990. Research on EI has found associations among EI and social network size, health and well-being, and job performance.(Austin, Saklofske, & Egan, 2003; Brackett, Mayer, & Warner, 2003; Petrides & Furnham, 2003; Saklofske, Austin, & Minski, 2001). Two different types of EI, trait EI and ability EI, have been identified in the literature. Trait EI was identified by Petrides and Furnham, and is a non-cognitive ability which allows an individual to regulate his/her mood, recognize and make the most of emotions, and utilize social skills, and is measured by self report. Ability EI is the ability of an individual to understand, generate, and manage emotions. Ability EI is measured using a performance measure which assesses the capacity of an individual to perceive emotions in him/herself, others, and the environment. Emotional intelligence has been linked to aspects of well-being, such as social network quality. In order to examine how EI related to social networks, both trait and ability EI were measured along with the Big Five factors of personality and social network quality and size. A study of 268 participants investigated the relationships amongst trait EI, personality, and social network quality and size. The Big Five factors of personality were all significantly positively correlated with EI (p< .01), and were also significantly correlated with social network quality and size. EI was significantly related to social network quality and size. When controlling for personality, EI was no longer significantly correlated with any of the social network quality or size variables. A subset of participants (n=78) completed an ability measure of EI, the Mayer Salovey Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). There were no significant correlations between MSCEIT scores and any of the other variables. A follow-up study was then carried out looking at the relationship of the original study variables with ability EI (MSCEIT), life stress, measured using the Uplifts and Hassles scale, and depression, measured using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), in the original participants. The results from this study indicated that emotional stability was significantly correlated with the Uplifts portion of the life stress scale, but not with Hassles. Conscientiousness was significantly negatively correlated with both the Hassle subscale of life stress and the BDI score. Emotional stability was also significantly negatively correlated with the BDI score. The total ability EI score measured by the MSCEIT did not show significant relationships with any other variables. Given that EI has been linked to social network quality and size, and one of the facets of EI is the capacity of an individual to recognize emotions in others, it would seem that individuals who are high in EI should have larger and better quality social networks as they are theoretically able to recognize and appropriately respond to the emotions of others. In order to test this, a social perception inspection time task was carried out in which participants were required to identify if a face was happy, sad, or angry. The faces used were both Caucasian and Far-East Asian, the hypothesis being that a person high in EI would recognize the facially expressed emotions regardless of whether the face shown was of their own race or not. Results from this study indicated that EI was not related to correctly identifying facial expressions. The results of these studies are discussed along with suggestions for future research in this area.

Once regarded as a nation central to the development of civil society, associational activity in contemporary Britain is perceived by some authors as fragile. Whereas the urban leadership provided by the middle classes was crucial to the trajectory and character of towns and cities all over Britain in the nineteenth century, it has been claimed that their relocation to suburbia has become synonymous with detachment, disinterest and the decline of the associational sphere. Depicted in literary and historical accounts, as well as in the popular media, as pursuing a suburban lifestyle that was both monotonous and disengaged, the middle classes of the twentieth century were assumed to have relinquished the management of a multitude of municipal and voluntary functions that defined an urban place. Yet such accounts stereotyped middle-class lifestyles, oversimplifying their relationship with the city, and prompting a ‘new wave’ of suburban research in America that has offered a revisionism that stresses diversity and challenges prevailing assumptions regarding middle-class behaviour. Assumptions of suburban detachment are contested in the research that underpins this study. The thesis ‘Semi-Detached Britain? Social networks in the suburban fringe of Leicester and Loughborough, 1950-2005’ provides a detailed analysis of social and cultural networks and reviews the consequences of relocation on civic engagement since 1950. Geographically the middle classes may have distanced their home lives from the urban centre, but through an examination of their participation in the associational sphere of clubs and societies it is evident that suburban living was not synonymous with disinterest and detachment. Furthermore, analysis of cultural changes post 1950, including the issue of conservation, the shifting nature of gender relations, and the process of racial assimilation, reveal how voluntary organisations, and their middle-class membership, continued to shape the physical, spatial and cultural landscape of modern Britain. Through the intricate networks of power developed in local clubs and societies, the middle-classes found a continuing utility in the transference of knowledge and expertise, often working as mediator between the citizen and the state. Far from being disconnected, the new ‘suburbans’ were ‘semi-detached’, demonstrating a vigorous and ongoing commitment to the public sphere that contributed to the stock of social and civic capital in both town and city. In this regard the thesis provides a revisionism concerning the middle classes, suburbanisation, and the construction of civil society in the modern era.

The Assessment and Investment Model (AIM) introduced in 2003 a fiscally constrained The New Enemy hides in the shadows of anonymity. As of September 11, 2001, combat in today's world is much more challenging and requires a better understanding of the enemy and his support infrastructure. There is a renewed interest in human intelligence (HUMINT) as expressed by the US Department of Defense and Intelligence Agencies. But HUMINT is only data collected by human sources about an individual or group of individuals and their activities. Cultural Immersion is a step above mere data collectionâ µit allows its practitioners to understand the thought processes and/or the routines of questionable individuals or groups. Cultural immersion is a skill set that allows missions to develop and execute with smooth transitions. It does not guarantee mission success but certainly assures greater mission success than can be achieved operating without it. Cultural immersion "equalizes the playing field" when US/Coalition forces are operating in foreign lands against otherwise invisible or immersed enemies. This thesis examines various aspects of cultural immersion, how they relate to warfare, and proposes recommendations for cultural immersion supporting present day Naval Special Warfare (NSW) missions. The intent is to provide decision makers a viable option for actionable intelligence during the Global War on Terrorism.

Pervasive social and ecological water crises in Mexico remain, despite over two decades of legal and institutional backing for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as a policy tenet. In this article we apply a socialshed analysis to uncover and understand the geographical and jurisdictional forces influencing the social construction and simultaneous fragmentation of the San Miguel Watershed (SMW) in the state of Sonora, in Mexico's water-scarcity bulls-eye. Specific insights derived from an empirical analysis include that water management (WM) is socially embedded in dense networks of family and friends, farmers and ranchers, citizens and local government - all to varying degrees sharing information about local water crises. Irrigation water user representatives (WUR) are connected across communities and within their own municipalities, but interwatershed social links with other WUR are virtually nonexistent, despite high levels of awareness of crossmunicipality WM problems. Implementation of IWRM as a federal policy by a single agency and the creation of basin councils and subsidiary technical committees for groundwater management have not been sufficient for technical - much less social - integration at the watershed level. This study shows that the SMW socialshed remains fragmented by local jurisdictions; without coordinated agency-jurisdiction-local action fomenting social connections, a socialshed will not emerge.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide information and a deeper understanding of how the Russian cultural phenomenon blat affects the possibility for Swedish companies to conduct business in the Russian market. In order to conduct this research, relevant aspects of the phenomenon has been demonstrated, identified and analysed in relation to culture, networks and internationalization. This thesis follows a deductive approach, as the research topic is considered rather unexplored. In an attempt to acquire deeper information, a qualitative research method provides deeper understanding how the topic affects Swedish companies. The literature review chapter forms the base of this thesis as it includes theories related to culture, networks, the cultural phenomenon of blat and internationalization. Theories have formed the conceptual framework in an effort to demonstrate connections between theories. The empirical findings have been collected in order to analyse the data in relation to the theories, where the empirics drive from multiple case studies upon Swedish companies. The analysis chapter is structured in accordance with the conceptual framework, where a discussion of the differences and dissimilarities between theories and empirical findings are included. In the following chapter, the conclusion constitutes from theory, empirical findings and analysed data. Moreover, the final chapter consist of implications, recommendations, limitations and suggestions for further research. The main theoretical implications, engage in fill the research gap and addresses blat in an international situation connected to social networks and culture. The main practical implications indicate that the cultural phenomenon blat is not a necessity for Swedish companies when internationalizing to the Russian market although it may facilitate the process. It becomes more important to understand blat as companies increase their market commitment.

Social networks constitute a major channel for the diffusion of information and the formation of attitudes in a society. Introducing a dynamic model of social learning, the first part of this thesis studies the emergence of socially influential individuals and groups, and identifies the characteristics that make them influential. The second part uses a Bayesian network game to analyse the role of social interaction and conformism in the making of decisions whose returns or costs are ex ante uncertain.